Now that Outlander's seventh season is underway, Sam Heughan is sharing some behind-the-scenes secrets. Taking to Instagram on Thursday, the actor revealed that for episodes two and three of the latest instalment – which sees Jamie and Claire's home reduced to ashes – the crew had actually torched the set, which led to real-life firefighters having to manage the flames.
Sharing a video from production, Sam captioned it: "The Big House burning down…Jamie and Claire are useless at putting it out but thankfully help was at hand."
Shortly after posting, the star was inundated with comments from fans, who were left emotional at the set's destruction. "It was hard to watch it burning down. It was a great scene though! Thanks for sharing this behind the scene. Glad you guys also had fun filming these scenes," replied one.
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"So sad! Such a beautiful set! But the scene was awesome!" agreed another. Meanwhile, a third penned: "So sad to see the big house burnt. I would have loved it if you had kept it along with other sets, [and] that you made a kind of universal studios."
© Robert WilsonDuring episode two of series seven, Jamie and Claire were left distraught after Wendigo Donner destroyed the family home that they had so painstakingly built.
After heading to Fraser's Ridge in hopes of stealing a gemstone from Claire, Wendigo thoughtlessly lit a match just minutes after his henchman had smashed bottles of ether from Claire's medicine cabinet. Luckily, Claire and Jamie were able to escape in the nick of time, but they were left with almost nothing.
© James MinchinAs fans will remember, the explosion itself was a nod to an earlier storyline from the series. During season four, Brianna travelled through the stones to stop her parents from dying in a fire at Frasier's Ridge, after learning of the explosion from an old newspaper. However, following the events of series seven, it looks like Jamie and Claire are safe and sound (for now at least).
© StarzIt's hardly surprising that fans had such an emotional reaction to the burning of the Fraser's Ridge set, especially as the show will be coming to an end.
Back in January, it was confirmed that the period drama is set to conclude after its eighth and final season, which will consist of 10 episodes. As of June, the final series is still in the pre-production phase.
© StarzWhile filming for the new episodes was due to begin in a few months' time, the ongoing writers' strike in Hollywood has resulted in a delay. When asked when shooting for the final series is due to start, Catriona Balfe said: "Well, we had a date. And now with the writers strike, who knows? So we have to just wait and see.
"That's obviously a big thing that's going on at the moment stateside and that may change things. But you know, it's too early to start speculating about that," she told RadioTimes.com.
